The acceptance of the Internet for commercial transactions by the public has afforded tremendous opportunities for new and existing companies in the fields of merchandising and delivery. The customer is now faced with the pleasant challenge of being able to select a wide variety of goods and services that include books, music, compact discs, videotapes, clothing, food, medicine, and prepared meals via a personal computer or similar electronic device. Customers are often able to place an order at their convenience, and arrange for payment and delivery, often without human intervention by the vendor.
Many companies are striving to use the new Internet technology to revive older types of sales and service franchises. In particular, home delivery of perishable food products invokes the memory of the old milk and egg or ice delivery systems popular until the middle of this century. Other companies merchandise general products like books, compact discs, clothing, videotapes, and small household items. Typically the merchants use a general-purpose shipper to complete the delivery step, like the United Parcel Services (UPS®), the U.S. Postal Service® (the “mail”), and FedEx®. Another category of delivery service firms are those that perform routine errands for people, for example, the pick-up and delivery of dry cleaning.
A critical aspect of order fulfillment is the actual placing of goods in the customer's hands. In many cases, the delivery location is specified by the customer, but the actual delivery date and time are specified by the deliverer. In many other cases, the customer can make a specific appointment with a particular vendor for a shipment receipt within a certain specified delivery time window: for example, “on Tuesday, March 16, between 3:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.” However, these types of delivery services are often not available, or are more expensive, or are interrupted due to unplanned changes in either the delivery service or the customer's schedule.
Modern consumers are challenged by busy work and social schedules and often do not have the time or opportunity to arrange for the personal delivery or pickup of items at times convenient to both the merchant and the customer. This is especially the case with delivery systems such as the mail and UPS which often deliver only during normal business hours, when the customer is also working. Since delivering personal items at a work location is often undesirable, impractical, and impossible, many customers can not conveniently receive goods via delivery systems currently available.
Various solutions to these problems in conveniently delivering goods and services have been attempted. Generally, these solutions only address the delivery aspect of the purchase/fulfillment circle and require the customer to be present at a more opportune time. Such solutions often do not address the vendor's or the delivery service's needs to reduce and/or eliminate missed deliveries, concerns with theft, payment considerations, receiver authorizations, and various other concerns. In the simplest case, for a locally furnished item, the customer may often elect to pick-up the product at the merchant's or shipper's location. Typical examples include dry cleaners, and going to a will-call window or a receiving dock. Other solutions include specifying precise delivery locations and time windows when the customer is at a specific location (for example, pizza delivery services). All of these solutions, however, inherently contain inefficiencies for the customer, the vendor, and/or the delivery service.
Therefore, a system is needed which enables a customer to specify a delivery or pick-up of goods while allowing a vendor and/or delivery service to schedule the pick-ups/deliveries based upon their schedules and needs and not necessarily based upon a particular customer's needs or availability. Additionally, such a system reduces deliverer and vendor concerns with payment by not having to carry cash or make change, while also maximizing a delivery service's utilization of resources by eliminating subsequent delivery attempts. The system would also minimize the amount of time a customer has to wait to receive specific goods and/or services, and eliminate the need for the customer to personally wait to sign for a delivery. The system should provide opportunities for merchants to accumulate and schedule related deliveries and to offer marketing opportunities for increasing business to others (i.e., to the areas of delivery).